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At a Glance

Uppers

“The culture and the coworkers.”

“Compensation, location, and opportunities.”

Downers

“The frequency of work assignments can be very hot and cold.”

“Sometimes hours are long/inflexible.”

About Paul Hastings LLP

Over the last few decades, Paul Hastings has grown from a mid-market U.S. firm to an international outfit with strengths in employment, tax, and business law and big-name clients in more than 80 countries. With offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo, the firm has become especially strong in Asian market dealings.

It Started with Three

In 1951, Harvard law grads Bob Hastings, Lee Paul, and Leonard Janofsky pooled their ambition to form a new firm in Los Angeles. They divided the workload three ways: Janofsky handled employment law matters, Paul dealt with litigation, and Hastings managed business law. In 1962, Charles Walker joined the trio as a partner, adding his name to the masthead and establishing a tax practice. Walker took a brief sojourn from the firm in the 1970s to accept a position in the Ford administration as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy, but soon returned to his tax work at the firm.

The firm grew organically over the next few decades—rather than merging or acquiring other firms—including overseas in Asia and the U.K.

Doing It All

Paul Hastings is a premier global law firm with elite teams in finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and litigation dedicated to serving the world’s leading Wall Street and global investment banks, asset managers, and corporations. It is one of a handful of law firms ranked across multiple core finance areas, including structured credit, leveraged finance, private credit, capital markets, and real estate finance. It is one of the top firms in the world in The American Lawyer’s “Premier League” for momentum, profit, and prestige amongst firms in the 2022 American Lawyer 100.

The firm has a bustling transactional practice with more than 450 lawyers across the globe, counseling on M&A, private equity, venture capital, and much more. The firm’s client list spans more than a dozen industries, including aircraft finance and leasing, energy, development and construction, health care, franchise and distribution, government affairs, hotels and resorts, investment management, real estate, life sciences, IT and eCommerce, OSHA, sports, telecommunications and media, and securities finance and capital markets. To keep up with client demands during the global financial crisis, Paul Hastings also established a subprime mortgage and credit crisis practice area, focusing on bankruptcy and restructuring, regulatory matters, litigation and investigations, and government advisory services.

Another notable practice is employment law. The firm regularly appears among the top 10 firms in Vault’s Labor & Employment ranking and is the only firm to have been named twice as The American Lawyer’s Labor and Employment Litigation Law Firm of the Year. Among the firm’s specialties include employee benefits and ERISA, employment discrimination, international employment issues, labor management, and restrictive covenants.

Lastly, the firm has a significant real estate practice. The firm has a cross-disciplinary approach to real estate work through which lawyers in the practice area work together with the firm’s corporate, securitization and structured finance, and tax teams to assist with all aspects of a real estate transaction. The firm is in the top 10 in Vault’s Real Estate ranking.

Feeling Generous

Many firms give back through pro bono work, but Paul Hastings takes it a step further with its generous charitable giving. In the past year alone, the firm has donated to more than 140 charitable organizations. And the firm matches up to $1,000 in charitable donations per each employee every year.

News & Awards

NOTABLE CASES
  • Advising clients on complex domestic and cross-border transactions throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States.
  • Handling the largest-ever anti-corruption and bribery settlements
  • Leading our industry in successfully defending patents across a variety of forums and tribunals
  • Guiding companies through data breach response and regulatory/litigation defense
AWARDS & ACCOLADES
  • Top 5 on The American Lawyer Summer Associate Satisfaction Survey, 2022—The American Lawyer
  • #1 on The American Lawyer Mid-Level Associate Satisfaction Survey, 2022—The American Lawyer
  • Top 10 Best Law Firms for Diversity, Top 10 Best Law Firms to Work For, 2022—Vault
  • Mansfield Certified Plus 4.0, 2022—The Diversity Lab 
  • Top-ranked firm across Asia, Europe, and North America—Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers Report
Paul Hastings LLP

200 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10166
Phone: (212) 318-6000

Firm Stats

Chair of Firm: Frank Lopez
Managing Partners: Frank Lopez & Sherrese M. Smith
Total No. Attorneys (2023):
1K - 1.5K
No. of Partners Named 2023:
13
Billable-Hour Requirement:
2,000

Base Salary

1st year: $215,000
2nd year: $225,000
3rd year: $250,000
4th year: $295,000
5th year: $345,000
6th year: $370,000
7th year: $400,000
8th year: $415,000
9th year: $415,000
Summer Associate: $4,134.61/week

Employment Contact

Cindy Hasson
Managing Director, Talent Acquisition and Enrichment
(213) 318-6000
attorneyrecruiting@paulhastings.com

No. of U.S. Offices: 11

No. of International Offices: 10

Major Office Locations

Atlanta, GA
Century City, CA
Chicago, IL
Houston, TX
Los Angeles, CA
New York, NY
Orange County, CA
Palo Alto, CA
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Washington, DC I
Beijing
Brussels
Frankfurt
Hong Kong
London
Paris
São Paulo
Seoul
Shanghai
Tokyo

Major Departments

Banking and Finance
Bankruptcy and Restructuring
Capital Markets
Corporate
Intellectual Property
Investment Management
Labor and Employment
Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Mergers and Acquisitions
Project Finance
Real Estate
Regulatory Compliance
Securities Litigation
Tax Advisory Services
*See firm website for complete list of practice areas and industries.